But was anyone really asking for an instrumental Black Flag record?
March 23, 2022 5:04 PM Subscribe
In 1987, SST Records released a double album, "No Age," a collection of punk-adjacent instrumental music. (Not everyone appreciated this.)
Black Flag, "Southern Rise"
Blind Idiot God, "Dark And Light"
Henry Kaiser, "Sugagaki For Conlon"
Elliott Sharp, "Shopping Maul"
Lee Ranaldo, "Florida Power"*
Lawndale, "March Of The Melted Army Men"
Glenn Phillips, "Vista Cruiser"
Pell Mell, "Cinnecitta"
Paper Bag, "Faith Opaque"
Scott Colby, "Let's Go Places And Eat Things"
Lawndale, "Days Of Pup And Taco"
Paper Bag, "Priests On Drugs"
Universal Congress Of, "Chasing"
Steve Fisk, "Johnny Smoke 'Swamp Thing'"
Gone, "Left Holding Bag"
Alter Natives, "Over The Counter Culture"
Elliott Sharp, "Diurnal"
Frith & Kaiser, "The Trace"
Gone, "Insidious Detraction"
*This track is from Lee Ranaldo's album of locked grooves, From Here to Infinity
Some of these songs are a lot of fun, some of them are a drag, but it's an odd document from an interesting era. Poke around and see what you think!
Black Flag, "Southern Rise"
Blind Idiot God, "Dark And Light"
Henry Kaiser, "Sugagaki For Conlon"
Elliott Sharp, "Shopping Maul"
Lee Ranaldo, "Florida Power"*
Lawndale, "March Of The Melted Army Men"
Glenn Phillips, "Vista Cruiser"
Pell Mell, "Cinnecitta"
Paper Bag, "Faith Opaque"
Scott Colby, "Let's Go Places And Eat Things"
Lawndale, "Days Of Pup And Taco"
Paper Bag, "Priests On Drugs"
Universal Congress Of, "Chasing"
Steve Fisk, "Johnny Smoke 'Swamp Thing'"
Gone, "Left Holding Bag"
Alter Natives, "Over The Counter Culture"
Elliott Sharp, "Diurnal"
Frith & Kaiser, "The Trace"
Gone, "Insidious Detraction"
*This track is from Lee Ranaldo's album of locked grooves, From Here to Infinity
Some of these songs are a lot of fun, some of them are a drag, but it's an odd document from an interesting era. Poke around and see what you think!
DEVO did a instrumental lounge cassette of a bunch of their own songs around this time.
posted by boilermonster at 11:16 PM on March 23, 2022
posted by boilermonster at 11:16 PM on March 23, 2022
Steve Fisk (and as Pell Mell) continued putting out instrumental music, most of it more modern alternative than 'punk', ie: there's probably a direct link to Explosions in the Sky. I have a later one called Star City but I don't play it much because it's just not my style.
However, I'm thinking this kicked off 'punk instrumental' as a genre that bands were willing to put on record, even if they normally had a singer.
I only have one punk instrumental before then, Mission of Burma's All World Cowboy Romance, from 1981, which again is not that great. There may have been '70s punk instrumentals, but I just don't own and am not aware of them.
But, after 1985, they are actually pretty common, and some of them rule:
Minutemen - Sickles and Hammers
Fugazi - Arpeggiator
Rev Horton Heat - Big Sky
Seaweed - Metal Gazer
Supersuckers - Thinking About Revenge
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:04 AM on March 24, 2022 [5 favorites]
However, I'm thinking this kicked off 'punk instrumental' as a genre that bands were willing to put on record, even if they normally had a singer.
I only have one punk instrumental before then, Mission of Burma's All World Cowboy Romance, from 1981, which again is not that great. There may have been '70s punk instrumentals, but I just don't own and am not aware of them.
But, after 1985, they are actually pretty common, and some of them rule:
Minutemen - Sickles and Hammers
Fugazi - Arpeggiator
Rev Horton Heat - Big Sky
Seaweed - Metal Gazer
Supersuckers - Thinking About Revenge
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:04 AM on March 24, 2022 [5 favorites]
It also kind of sucks that Mission of Burma's All World Cowboy Romance is boring, because they could instrumentalize with the best of them, like the long intro to Secrets from 1982, which has 2 minutes of awesome rocking before lyrics start.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:25 AM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:25 AM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
But was anyone really asking for an instrumental Black Flag record?
What else am I going to sing at karaoke?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:53 AM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
What else am I going to sing at karaoke?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:53 AM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wow. Despite poring longingly over many an SST catalog insert starting around 84/85, I totally do not remember this album. I'm also a bit surprised not to see Saccharine Trust listed as I seem to remember them doing some instrumentals.
And, huh, there does seem to be something to this "after 85 punk instrumental renaissance" hypothesis. The only pre-85 instrumental I could remember (that survived fact checking) is Husker Du's 1984 opus Reoccurring Dreams.
Some other punk instrumentals that came out in 85/86 include:
Meat Puppets - Seal Whales & Maiden's Milk (whistling is instrumental, right?)
NoMeansNo - Obsessed
And now maybe it's time to give Saccharine Trust's first album a re-listen.
posted by house-goblin at 12:14 PM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
And, huh, there does seem to be something to this "after 85 punk instrumental renaissance" hypothesis. The only pre-85 instrumental I could remember (that survived fact checking) is Husker Du's 1984 opus Reoccurring Dreams.
Some other punk instrumentals that came out in 85/86 include:
Meat Puppets - Seal Whales & Maiden's Milk (whistling is instrumental, right?)
NoMeansNo - Obsessed
And now maybe it's time to give Saccharine Trust's first album a re-listen.
posted by house-goblin at 12:14 PM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have the Lee Renaldo locked groove record, which is a drag, but also fun because it's very pretty. It's a clear disc with music on one side and an etching by Savage Pencil on the other. It was definitely one of those play-once-and-then-enjoy-as-an-object purchases.
posted by PatchesPal at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2022
posted by PatchesPal at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2022
Favorite just for referencing Blind Idiot God. Such a weird interesting band.
posted by alikins at 4:02 PM on March 24, 2022
posted by alikins at 4:02 PM on March 24, 2022
I had the Lee Ranaldo album, too. Such a weird cool thing that used the technology of the LP in a weird way. The grooves were too few seconds to really do anything very interesting with, but the concept was fascinating.
I was always a fan of rock instrumentals, but not a lot of bands do them well. Most bands that don't do them well don't put them on records. That didn't exactly happen here, but there are a few gems. I still think Vista Cruiser is stellar work.
posted by rikschell at 5:52 PM on March 24, 2022
I was always a fan of rock instrumentals, but not a lot of bands do them well. Most bands that don't do them well don't put them on records. That didn't exactly happen here, but there are a few gems. I still think Vista Cruiser is stellar work.
posted by rikschell at 5:52 PM on March 24, 2022
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My personal favorite from their noise rock stuff is Rollercoaster. My favorite of their dub stuff is Clockwork Dub.
posted by fnerg at 6:38 PM on March 23, 2022 [5 favorites]